Pokemon Ranger May and the Shadows of Almia
by Not So Artsy Fartsy
Summary: May is just a girl from Hoenn with big dreams of becoming a Pokemon Ranger. After moving to Almia and attending the Pokemon Ranger School, she's about to embark on a journey with great friends, to amazing places, and... Dim Sum? Oh wait, the evil Team Dim Sun. Contestshipping, Leafgreenshipping!
1. Chapter One: Capture On!

**Pokemon Ranger May and the Shadows of Almia**

 **Chapter One: Capture On!**

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 _Hai there! I'm Not So Artsy Fartsy (feel free to call me_ Mahrley _) and yes, I am Pikachaaaa revamping this story. The story line is a bit altered compared to the "original version". So yeah, other than that it's rather similar so if you enjoyed that then you will most certainly like this!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon._

 _This story is dedicated to Contestshipper16_

* * *

"Capture... ON!" I activated the styler the Ranger School gave me and began my capture. This was it, the entrance exam, the opportunity that I have been waiting for.

The Pikachu charged, but it didn't phase me. I quickly formed more loops and successfully captured the Pokemon before it had a chance to use Thunderbolt.

Is there going to be another Pokemon? Am I done?

A slow clap broke the silence. "Okay, good going, that was pretty impressive," the blonde instructor congratulated me as he entered the room. I smiled at the compliment.

"My name, it is Kaplan. That's Commander Kaplan to you. As you successfully completed that capture, you are now a member of our secret army, the indestructible Team School. In order to prove your membership, you have been conferred the School Styler you just used."

I looked down at the blue and green device in my hand. My very own Styler. Even though I would have to give it back after I graduated, I still felt pride blossoming in my chest. I'm going to become a ranger...

The adult continued his speech by saying, "Together, we shall rule the world -"

"Oh, Mr. Kaplan! Please don't tease my students with a silly performance like that," a lady chastised as she walked in the door. She crossed her arms, frowned, and gave Mr. Kaplan an expectant look.

Mr. Kaplan broke his act and smiled nervously. "Ahaha, sorry, sorry, but the timing was too perfect to miss," he apologized. Mr. Kaplan recomposed himself and cleared his throat. "Ahem, congratulations! You have passed the Ranger School's entry test with flying colors! That was really an impressive capture."

He walked over to the lady who previously interrupted his performance and grinned. "This is Mia April, your teacher."

Ms. April rolled her eyes at Mr. Kaplan with an amused smile playing on her lips. She then stepped forward and held out her hand. "As Mr. Kaplan said, my name is Mia April, but call me Ms. April. I will be your teacher for the year."

I shook her hand and beamed. "I'm May Hawthorne. Thank you so much for accepting me into this school. I'm really looking forward to joining the class!"

My teacher's smile widened and she turned to exit the room. "I think you'll be a great addition to the class, seeing as your capture was very impressive. Come on, let's head to the classroom."

I looked back at Mr. Kaplan and waved goodbye before I followed Ms. April out of the building.

"Enjoy your school life!" the man shouted after us.

This is it.

 **\- Ms. April's Classroom -**

Ms. April paused before pushing open the wood door to the classroom. She looked back at me and instructed, "Wait here while I introduce you to the class." I nodded in understanding.

She pushed the door open and apologized. "Sorry to keep you waiting, class. I hope I can still say good morning."

The students laughed and all greeted, "Good morning Ms. April!"

Ms. April stood at the front of the classroom and said, "As I mentioned yesterday, we have a new member in our classroom." As soon as she reminded the class, chatter broke out amongst the students.

"Really? Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Is the new kid cool or cute?"

"What?"

"Is she hot?"

"Oh goodness Gary, you don't know if it's a girl or a boy and can't you be more mature?"

"How long did it take the new kid to capture that Pikachu?"

"Longer than me, definitely."

"Totally!"

I rolled my eyes but was still amused at the comments and walked into the room as the students continued to think out loud.

Ms. April sighed and said, "Okay! That's enough, you all can see for yourself. Here's the new student."

I awkwardly stood at the front of the classroom. Thoughts raced through my head. Will they like me? Will I be able to do good at this school? What's the year going to be like? Oh goodness, this attention is uncomfortable. Should I be doing something?

The teacher sympathetically looked at me and whispered, "Calm down, just be yourself."

She turned to the class and announced, "Everyone listen to the new student. Her name is May and she's going to tell us about herself." With these words, the students quieted down and looked at me expectantly.

Nervously, I smiled and said, "So as Ms. April said, my name is May Hawthorne. I'm originally from Fiore but I've been living in Hoenn for my dad's job."

A chartreuse-haired boy in the first row smirked. Ms. April looked at him and asked, "Why the smirk, Drew?" She shook her head and continued. "Anyways, May, I will need you to sit in the available seat next to Drew and Leaf. Can you two raise your hands?"

The smirking boy and a long haired brunette raised their hands. I quickly sat in the empty seat between them.

"As we have a new student, this will be a free period. Leaf, can you please take May around the school?" Leaf nodded. "Alright, good, I'll be in staff room if anyone needs me." Ms. April walked out of the room, leaving all of the students to do their own thing.

Leaf looked over at me and smiled. "Hi, so May right? Again, I'm Leaf Rosalind, and this annoying boy sitting behind me is Gary Oak. Ignore him for your sake," she jokingly warned me and grinned.

Gary rolled his eyes and humorously said, "So you're not as hot as I thought you would be but you're pretty cute."

I laughed lightheartedly as Leaf snorted. "I told you he was annoying. And Gary? Grow up." Leaf turned around and looked at the boy.

Smiling, Gary raised his hands up as if he was surrendering and said, "Fine, fine. Be that way Leaf."

"I will be," she beamed. I giggled a bit at their bantering. Leaf and Gary seemed to be very nice people. I secretly hoped everyone in the class was like that.

But no.

"Hey, new kid!" Drew called from across the classroom. I directed my attention to the boy who sat next to me and was surrounded by a lot of people. "How long did it take for you to capture that Pikachu? Fifteen minutes? Ten? You look like a capable girl, maybe five?"

A girl around Drew said, "Oh May, you definitely did not capture the Pikachu as fast as Drew! He's the best ranger in our grade."

"Even I have to say that. He's definitely the most cooperative when it comes to working with an operator," one of the boys voiced.

Dreamy sighs came from a few of the girls around the seemingly popular chartreuse-haired boy.

I shrugged and answered his question. "Maybe one, two minutes? I'm not sure, I wasn't exactly staring at the clock."

Drew's eyes widened at my answer. He narrowed his eyes as if he was unsure of my answer, but did not say anything. I frowned at the boy. Does he really think that he's that much better than everyone else?

"No way! Not possible!" another girl pouted. I sighed.

Just as I was about to lose faith in my new classmates, Leaf tapped my shoulder. "Come on, let's get started with your tour of the school." She ushered me away from the crowd of people around Drew and led me out of the door.

"Who was that?" I asked out of curiosity as Leaf and I walked down the corridor.

She stopped walking and groaned. "Well, his full name is Andrew Thorten. He's probably the best ranger in the school but has the biggest ego. Yet, a lot of people are friends with him." Leaf turned and looked me in the eye. "In order to impress him, or subdue his ego at the very least, you have to show him. He's a hypocrite in that regard," she said with a grin playing on her lips.

I shrugged and brushed the topic aside as Leaf and I walked around the school. "Come on, let's check out the dorm rooms," she said and pointed out the direction.

"Wait, so Leaf, how did you meet Gary?" I asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

She turned around and raised her eyebrows. "You mean the brunet?" I nodded. "Oh, we're from the same hometown. Grew up together, I guess," she answered and continued walking.

I smiled to myself. Gary and Leaf seemed like a dynamic duo. Lost in thought, I kept on walking and accidentally bumped into Leaf. "Sorry!" I apologized.

"It's fine," she said and pointed at a staircase going down. "That's the basement, which is off limits to students. Mr. Kincaid, the other teacher, does all of his work down there. Although I don't know what he actually works on, I know that the last time a student was caught there, they had to serve detention for a month."

I cringed and blatantly stated, "Oh, let's not go down there then..." Leaf laughed and walked upstairs.

 **\- The Dorms -**

"Here are the dorms! Welcome to your new home for the school year, May."

The staircase opened up to a room with comfortable sofas and tables. To the left of the staircase there was a door with a pink sign above it, and to the right of the staircase, there was a blue sign above the door. There was also a pink machine.

"Girls," I said as I pointed to the pink sign, "and boys." I pointed to the blue sign.

"Yep, please don't go into the boys room," Leaf pleaded jokingly.

I winked playfully, which caused the brunette to groan and myself to snicker.

The sound of a door opening interrupted our banter. I glanced at the girls' room and saw a lady come out.

She looked at me and smiled. "You must be May. I'm Janice, the housekeeper," she introduced herself.

Leaf rolled her eyes and said, "Please, Janice, you're more like a mother to us all. Always keeping us out of trouble..."

Janice giggled and headed back into the girls' room. "I'll see you around May, enjoy the school!"

"Thanks!" I called out.

With a grin, Leaf pointed to the pink machine. "That machine is what we use to recharge our stylers. If you check out the map on your styler, there should be a 'P' sign. That 'P' sign indicates that a charging machine is there," she explained. "Make sure your styler doesn't run out of energy, it's extremely important."

I walked over to the machine and said, "Wow Leaf, you already sound like an operator."

She blushed at the complement and thanked me. "Well, shall we go? Let's visit the library next." I followed Leaf downstairs.

 **\- The Library -**

Leaf pushed the door to the library open and gestured for me to come into the supposedly quiet space. Unlike most libraries, this one was vibrant and filled with people conversing.

An annoyed girl, who was previously reading, scowled and attempted to tell a few students to be quiet. The students rolled their eyes and walked out of the room.

"While we're here, let me introduce you to a few of my friends. The boy over there with the spiky blue hair is called 'The Conflicted Marshmallow Boy' but his real name is Ponte. And the blond with the mushroom haircut is Isaac. He's really nice and a genius. The school doesn't even make him go to class anymore."

My eyes widened. Wow, I didn't know someone could be that smart...

Leaf looked at me with a knowing expression. "Well, I'm going to go read a bit. Why don't you talk to Ponte and Isaac? They're both really friendly." I nodded and she walked over to a bookshelf to pick out a book.

I walked over to Isaac first. "Hi, are you Issac?" I asked the blonde boy. He turned around and I saw that he was previously concentrating on something. Oops…

"Eighteen thousand four hundred ninety-one times one hundred forty-five is… Hm? Gah! I was just interrupted. No matter. You're new right?" Isaac inquired, all rather quickly.

"Whoa! You can multiply that in your head!" I exclaimed, ignoring his questions while gawking.

He grinned and corrected, "I can actually do eight digit multiplication in my head." I sighed dramatically, which caused him to laugh.

"Anyways, I'm Isaac. Did Leaf already tell you that?" He pointed to the brunette who was reading a book on the other side of the library.

I nodded and introduced myself. "I'm May, it's nice to meet you."

Isaac shook my hand. "Well, I'm sorry to have to break the conversation, but I must be completing research. Although Mr. Kincaid does not make me attend class, I still have to work on this other project for a grade. It was nice chatting with you."

Laughing, I shrugged it off. "Alright, it was an interesting conversation."

He grinned and pointed out the blue haired boy. "You should go talk to Ponte. He's pretty nice and funny. I think you'll like him."

I smiled and nodded. "See you around!"

Isaac waved back and turned to the shelf. Meanwhile, I walked over to 'The Conflicted Marshmallow Boy'.

"Hey, you're Ponte right?"

Ponte nodded. "You must be new," he stated.

I deadpanned. "Thanks for stating the obvious." The boy let out a hearty laugh and grinned.

"Welcome to the Ranger School and to the library. Your go to nap spot during study hall," he announced in a jubilant voice.

Amused, I asked, "But isn't it too loud to sleep?"

He shook his head. "Not during study hall. It gets really noisy during free periods, though." He pointed to a corner of the library and said, "That's the pillow corner, for your napping needs."

A smile played on my lips as he said that. "I should probably get going, See you around Ponte!"

 **\- Hallway -**

Leaf pointed to a room next to the staircase to the dorms. "That's the staff's office. If you ever need anything from the teachers during a break or from Principal Lamont."

I nodded and followed Leaf further down the hallway and into a classroom next to ours.

 **\- Mr. Kincaid's Classroom -**

"And here is the other half of the Ranger School. Welcome to Mr. Kincaid's room," Leaf told me as we both walked into the room.

A few kids turned around and waved. "You're May right?" I smiled and nodded. Leaf grinned at this.

"Our classes don't really mix, but the students here are all really nice and friendly. Anyways, let's get you acquainted with Mr. Kincaid. He's the man with the poofy blonde hair. How he gets that hairstyle? An insane amount of hairspray," she deadpanned. I laughed and Leaf and I walked up to the poofy haired adult.

"Hi, Mr. Kincaid. This is Ms. April's new student, May. Do you have any pieces of advice for her?" Leaf asked.

Mr. Kincaid nodded. "Two to be exact. Do not accuse others of a bad deed without proof. Also, do not run in the hallways."

Leaf and I both laughed slightly nervously. Why does Mr. Kincaid give me an odd feeling?

 **\- Ms. April's Classroom -**

Gary and Drew were talking in the front of the classroom as Leaf and I walked in. "Newbie! Leafy!" Gary called while he and Drew headed over.

Leaf rolled her eyes and corrected him, "The so-called 'Newbie' is a girl named May, who is standing right next to me and the so called 'Leafy' is me. Except my name is Leaf Rosalind, not 'Leafy' Rosalind."

Similar to Leaf, Drew also rolled his eyes at Gary.

I took a deep breath and smiled at Drew. He has one more chance to prove that he's not an arrogant twit. "Hi, I don't think we properly met yet. I'm May," I formally introduced myself and held out my hand.

He smirked and shook my hand. "And I am Drew," the chartreuse boy replied. He then flipped his hair and asked, "So June, how long did it take you to capture that Pikachu?"

I glowered. Well, there goes that one chance. "Number one, I just told you my name is May, not June. Does that not register in that dyed head of yours? Also, I already told you and your fangirls how long it took me," I emphasized my point by raising my arms up and down in front of him.

"Whatever, it's not like I was paying attention, August."

That's. IT.

"It's May!"

"June."

"Grasshead!"

"Airhead!"

"Arrogant jerk!"

"Stupid!"

DING DING

Leaf and Gary sighed in relief as our argument was interrupted by the bell. She called, "May, let's go outside. I really want you to meet Ms. Claire, and you've already met Mr. Kaplan. They'll teach you how to use target clear and also give you a review on capturing if you need it." Leaf half dragged me out of the classroom.

But before we could completely exit the room, Drew and I glared at each other one more time. Emeralds clashed with sapphires as the door shut.

 **\- Capture Hall -**

Mr. Kaplan greeted us with an eerie smile. "Welcome to the base of 'Team School'."

Another teacher with light brown hair and blue eyes let out a huff of air. "Oh please Mr. Kaplan." She turned to us and said, "Sorry about that, just ignore him." Leaf giggled.

"No! Don't ignore me!" Mr. Kaplan jokingly cried out despair. Ms. Claire grinned as he finally acted normally and introduced himself. "Hehe, sorry. I don't suppose you remember me from your entrance exam. I was your instructor, Mr. Kaplan."

I smiled politely and said, "How could I have forgotten? It was this morning."

Mr. Kaplan laughed nervously. "Right, well why don't you let Ms. Claire show you how to Target Clear?"

I nodded and Ms. Claire began stating the instructions. "Okay, so do you see that crate over there? If you scan it with your styler, it should tell you what you need in order to destroy, or clear it."

I scanned the crate with my styler. "An empty crate that is shattered by little force," it read. On the top right corner of the screen, it said "Crush 1."

"The 'Crush 1' means that you need a Pokemon with the field move 'Crush 1' in order to destroy the crate. If you scan Pokemon that have already been registered in your Browser, you can tell what that Pokemon's field move is," Ms. Claire explained. "For example, scan that Bidoof."

I followed Ms. Claire's instructions. "Bidoof. Poké Assist - Normal. Field move: Crush 1. Browser entry: It occasionally pretends to attack," my styler read.

Ms. Claire nodded and gestured for me to start the Target Clear.

"Okay, Bidoof, use headbutt on that crate!" I ordered. The Bidoof cried and followed my instructions.

"Bi-Bidoof!" it cried before leaving.

"Nicely done May! I forgot to mention, once a Pokemon has been used for Target Clear, it will leave and return to the wild. And that's about it with Target Clears." Ms. Claire happily clasped her hands.

Mr. Kaplan nodded and said, "I don't think you need any help with captures, but if you do feel free to come back. For now, you look like you're in great shape!"

I beamed. "Thank you, Ms. Claire and Mr. Kaplan."

Leaf also thanked the pair and we walked out of the Capture Hall.

"Good luck with school!" Mr. Kaplan and Ms. Claire shouted in unison.

 **\- School Courtyard -**

"WAHHH!" I heard someone yell as Leaf and I exited the Capture Hall. A Bidoof then suddenly charged past me, almost knocking Leaf over in the process.

I looked around. In the center of the courtyard, Janice was panicking and mumbling, "Oh what do I do, what do I do…"

Quickly, Leaf and I ran over to her. "Janice! What's going on?" Leaf shouted as we approached her.

"I… I tread on the leader Bidoof's tail and now they're on a rampage," she explained in a worried manner.

I nodded. "It's alright Janice, we'll help you take care of this," I assured her.

"And so will we," I heard an arrogant voice remark. Drew…

A chartreuse-haired boy and an auburn haired boy both ran over to us. Although I hated seeing Drew, all of us were glad for the extra help.

"Before we start, the person who catches the most Bidoof is the winner," Drew stated and pulled out his styler as we all got ready.

"Alright, three, two, one!" we all yelled.

"CAPTURE ON!"

Finally, Gary, Drew, Leaf and I managed to calm all of the Bidoof down after we found the leader running inside of the school.

With a sigh of relief, Janice came up to us. "Thank you all so much. You guys really saved me there."

We all laughed. "No problem Janice. It's nothing compared to what you help us with every day."

She smiled and herded the Bidoof away from the courtyard.

"Well, I captured three," Leaf said sheepishly. Drew looked at her expectantly and she defended herself with, "Hey! They were the ones chasing me the whole time!"

Laughing, we moved on.

"Gary?" Drew asked, looking at the brunet.

"Four. While you guys were looking around the courtyard, I was catching the Bidoof behind the school building and Capture Hall," he explained. We all nodded.

"May?"

I pursed my lips. I knew Drew had beat me from when we returned the Bidoof to Janice. "Five."

Drew smirked and flipped his hair. "Looks like I won with six." We all rolled our eyes and chuckled.

"But, our MVP was May because she did capture the leader Bidoof in the school building of all places," Leaf acknowledged. Gary looked at me and gave me a standing 'golf clap', causing another fit of laughter.

"Fair enough. You're not so bad after all," Drew said and looked at me, "April."

I sighed exasperatedly. "It's - you know what? I'm not going to even bother anymore." Leaf grinned at this.

Gary looked around the courtyard. "Hey, while we still have time, why don't we show May the Pledge Stone," he suggested and pointed to a staircase.

I shrugged and said, "Why not. It's always good to find new places."

We all smiled and walked to the stone.

 **\- Pledge Stone -**

"Wow, it's so big," I stated as I started at the large stone. "Can a Pokemon even push that monstrosity?"

Drew gave me a look of utter shock. "Airhead, I think you, uh…"

I sheepishly grinned. "Okay, maybe I'm over exaggerating…"

With a laugh, Leaf said, "Whatever Drew. Let's make a pledge while we're here. To all accomplish our dreams." The rest of us nodded together and we had a short moment of silence.

DING DING DING

The school bell rang, interrupting us once again.

"Shoot class starts in one minute!" Gary exclaimed and we all began to sprint back to the school building.

* * *

 _Well, that was the first chapter! I really hope you enjoyed it. :) Response to reviews (if any :P) will be done via PM but if the reviewer is a guest it will be done at the end of the chapter! I will be continuing the "Letters to Max" gimmick from the original story. If you don't know what it is, basically the beginning of the chapter will be a letter from May to Max (recap from last time) and at the end of the chapter, there will be a letter from Max to May (whatever Max is doing)._

 _-_ _Mahrley (aka Not So Artsy Fartsy)_

 _Feedback and reviews are always appreciated! :)_


	2. Chapter Two: Retrieve the Stylers!

**Pokemon Ranger May and the Shadows of Almia**

 **Chapter Two: Retrieve the Stylers!**

* * *

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon_

 _This story is dedicated to Contestshipper16_

* * *

Day: XX Month: XX Year: XX

Dear Max,

I finally got your letter yesterday. I miss you a lot too. And mom and dad, of course.

The Ranger School is absolutely amazing! The students here are insanely nice and there are some really interesting people. For example, I met a boy named Ponte, who people call 'The Conflicted Marshmallow Boy', and also a boy named Isaac. He's insanely smart, probably smarter than you. He can do eight digit multiplication in his head. I can barely do two… Other than them I made some new friends. Their names are Leaf and Gary. Leaf wants to be an operator, but I'm not sure about Gary. I think he wants to be a ranger like me and this other kid. Oh boy, this other kid. He's an arrogant grasshead. Although I have to admit, he's a really good ranger.

Aside from the students, I like the teachers too. My teacher, Ms. April, is super caring and nice. Then there's the other teacher, Mr. Kincaid, who's this blond guy with REALLY poofy hair. How he gets that look? Hairspray, hairspray, and hairspray. Finally, there's Ms. Claire and Mr. Kaplan. Ms. Claire is a really good teacher, and helped me out with target clears. Mr. Kaplan is also a good teacher, just sometimes a bit crazy. He likes to think that the Ranger School is a "secret spy organization". Whenever he's in this mood, everyone just says, "Ignore him," which snaps him right back into his normal self.

But anyways, the craziest thing happened yesterday. Janice, the caretaker, tread on the leader Bidoof's tail, which ended up with all of the Bidoof going haywire. Luckily, my friends and I were there in time to help Janice out. We made a fun competition out of it too. I was second to Drew, but on the bright side, I calmed the leader Bidoof, who managed to get inside the school building.

That's what's going on with me, I hope everything is as awesome in Trainer School. Tell mom and dad I love them, and be safe as always!

Love,

~May

 **\- The Dorms -**

"May! Let's go~!" Leaf called from the doorway of the girl's dormitory, which was empty at the moment.

I groaned as I sealed my letter to my brother, Max. "But it's so quiet now," I protested. "Can't we just stay here and chat? The hallway is so loud," I emphasized the 'so' in my sentence.

Leaf laughed. "Come on May, they're all in the hallway because of you. It's your first day today, and you still haven't gone through initiation yet." She winked.

I gulped and walked over to the mailbox to drop off my letter. "Initiation? What is this initiation you speak of?" I turned my head around looking everywhere, scared that a bucket of water was going to fall on my head.

"I'm afraid, Ms. Hawthorne, that you're going to have to walk out into the hallway to see what we have in store for you," she said and teasingly waltzed out of the doorway.

I sighed and plopped on the bed. Can't I just sleep? After a few minutes of debating with myself, I decided to go out. It can't be bad, right?

\- The Dorm Hallway -

"There she is! I told you she was coming!" Leaf exclaimed and put her arm around my shoulder, dragging me towards the table.

"You seem awfully happy now," I deadpanned, causing a few people to laugh.

Gary stood up from his seat at a table with Drew and some girls from our class (who were apparently talking about "homework" with the boys) and announced, "May Hawthorne. Before we can officially welcome you as a fellow student, you must go through initiation first."

From his seat, Drew continued, "We have hidden four stylers all around the school. Your task is to find them."

"Of course, it's not safe to go alone, so you have to go with the person sitting next to you. Because we absolutely LOVE you May, we decided to let you go with Drew," Leaf chimed and winked at me.

The girls at Drew's table had mixed reactions. Some laughed, some glared, and others protested.

Drew rolled his eyes. "Relax girls, I'm going with May because Leaf's too scared to go."

Leaf gaped. "Don't you bring me into this Mr. 'I'm so popular everyone wants to work with me'."

I laughed. "I didn't know you were THAT much of a scaredy cat, Leaf." I playfully stuck my tongue out at her.

"Whatever. I thought it would be a good idea because you are both arguably the best, from what I've seen, rangers in this school. Also, Drew finished this initiation fairly quickly, so can you beat the guy in his own game?" Leaf asked, getting me riled up.

I glared at Drew. "I'm so going to beat you this time."

"Alright, June. Show me you're not all bark and no bite." The chartreuse-haired boy smirked and ran down the stairs.

I followed him. "It's MAY!"

 _ **_ - MISSION: RETURN THE STYLERS - _**_

 **\- The Hallway -**

Drew and I both ran into the now very dark hallway. I saw his dark shape look around and then face me. "You're not scared of the dark; are you?" he teased. I could imagine his signature smirk gracing his lips.

I scowled, despite knowing that he couldn't see my expression. "Of course not." I rolled my eyes. He chuckled, most likely imagining the expressions that I used.

"Okay, well I'm going to check out Ms. April's classroom first. Care to join me Mister Greenie?" I offered mockingly.

"Ha, ha, very funny February."

I began walking down the hallway with Drew following me. Suddenly, I heard something move from the left side of the corridor. It was caused by a short, shadowy figure next to a bush.

"Greenhouse, what's that?" I whispered as I pointed to the shadow.

He shrugged before scrutinizing it. "Is it," Drew paused and waited for his eyes to adjust, "getting bigger?"

After another minute of observing, I realized it was headed in my direction. "Shoot!" I yelped as the shadow tackled me, causing me to fall.

Before I could hit the ground, a certain someone caught me.

"Thanks mosshead."

"No problem November."

He pushed me forward and we both readied ourselves, looking at the shape. I saw him reach for his styler, and mumble, "Crap," under his breath.

"No styler right?"

He nodded.

I grabbed mine scanned the shadow, which began to cry out and begin another attack. "Bidoof. Poké Assist: Normal. Field move: Crush 1. Browser entry: It occasionally pretends to attack."

The Bidoof rushed at us again, causing us to split up and jump out of the way.

"Capture on!" I activated my styler and began to capture the Bidoof.

Normally, Bidoof were easy to catch, but this one kept on insisting on feigning attacks, similar to the browser entry.

I ignored the Bidoof's cries and proceeded to capture it.

"Capture complete." I smiled to myself.

"Fine, that was good. But I would have done it faster if I had my styler," Drew said.

I rolled my eyes in a good manner. "Sure," I stretched out the word and said it skeptically.

It was Drew's turn to roll his eyes (at least I could imagine him doing so). "Whatever January, let's head out to Ms. April's classroom," he urged and began walking.

 **\- Ms. April's Classroom -**

"Even our own classroom is creepy at night…" Drew remarked as we walked in.

The lights were switched off, but the windows provided sufficient lighting. I could see Bidoof and Zubat wandering around the room, and a bunch of seemingly empty crates.

"Well the styler is probably in one of those crates," I remarked and scanned the crate.

I could see Drew's face in the moonlight. He rolled his eyes and stated, "Wow, you should be the new Sherlock Holmes."

"Very funny mossy."

I stood in front of a crate and ordered my befriended Bidoof to perform a target clear. The crate easily shattered, but unfortunately, there was no styler.

Disgruntled, I captured another Bidoof and tried again. But alas, there was no styler again.

I groaned. Knowing my luck, the styler would most likely be in the last crate standing.

Five minutes later, I managed to find the styler, in the last crate, of course. I walked over to pick it up.

"Hey December, you might want to watch out for that Zuba-" Drew's sentence was promptly interrupted by my squeal as a Zubat charged before I could pick up the styler.

"NOT FUNNY DREW!" I yelled and tried to capture the Pokemon.

He laughed. "Told you so airhead."

I huffed in mock anger as I finished my capture and attempted to stalk out of the classroom.

"Forgetting something April?" Drew smirked and leaned against a wall.

I cringed at the realization that Drew was right; I had left the styler on the floor. I stiffly walked over to the shattered crated, scooped up the styler, and walked past Drew, almost 'accidentally' stepping on his foot, and opened the door.

The arrogant jerk was probably grinning.

 **\- Library -**

"There it is!" I exclaimed and pointed to the desk farthest away from the door. I sighed in dismay as I saw that the path to the styler was blocked with crates. A Bidoof trotted by.

I saw Drew smirking at my fuming.

"That's it." I hopped over the desk and scooted along. I climbed over the final desk, got the styler, and headed back.

"What are you doing?!" Drew demanded and his signature smirk was replaced by an expression of shock.

He gawked with Zubat, who was making enough noise to wake everyone up.

I beamed victoriously while Drew continued to stare.

"You know you could have just target cleared the crates, right?" he said, flipping his hair.

"Yes, I know," I grinned mischievously and headed out of the room.

Drew sighed to himself. I heard him mutter, "What is this girl thinking?" to himself, but I chose not to say anything. I smiled a bit to myself.

 **\- Staffroom -**

I pushed the wooden door aside and walked into the staffroom. Leaf didn't show me this room on her tour, probably because students didn't really come here often.

The room was empty, aside from the table, some chairs, and papers that littered the desk. And, what was that, a spark…?

"Hey!" I yelled and heard a squeak from the other side of the room.

"PICHUU!" the spark cried and ran around the tables.

Sighing, I began to chase it.

After ten solid minutes, of chasing the thing, I still couldn't catch it. The Pokemon threw the styler across the desks and every time I tried to beat it to the styler, it would just hop over the desk.

I glared at Drew. He held his hands up as if he was innocent. "I swear this wasn't my idea. It was Gary's. I hid the styler in Ms. April's room."

I narrowed my eyes at him and shook my head.

"Come, here, you!" I whined as I continued to chase the Pichu. Instead of hopping off the desks like it normally did, it decided it was funnier to run on the desks where I couldn't catch it.

It stopped in the middle of the table and looked at me. Sparks emitted from its cheeks which allowed me to see its expression. The Pichu stuck its tongue out and pulled its cheek down. It then proceeded to turn around and spank its butt. The Pichu fucking mocked me.

Enraged, I cried, "OKAY you are going DOWN!" I jumped on the desks and ran on the tables while Drew looked on in horror. Zubat would not stop screeching at my so-called 'insanity'.

I finally managed to catch the stupid pest. It gave me an innocent look and hugged the styler. "Pichu?" It tilted its head towards me. I scowled, feeling no sympathy for the brat and grabbed the styler.

"Pichu," it huffed and shocked me.

I snapped, "Hey, I captured you fair and square!" The Pichu shook its head and ran off, choosing to ignore me.

I rolled my eyes and I walked out of the room. "Well, that was the downright RUDEST Pokemon I've ever met," I stated.

Drew continued to gawk. "Seriously, what is this girl…"

Zubat nodded in agreement.

 **\- Mr. Kincaid's Classroom -**

As soon as I entered Mr. Kincaid's classroom, I could tell he had been there within the last half hour due to the excessive hairspray smell. I gagged.

Drew followed me into the musky room, but the Zubat I recently befriended refused to enter the room, which caused me to snort humorously.

"There's the styler. Let's grab it and go," I said and pointed to a desk next to the window.

Meanwhile, Drew spotted something on Mr. Kincaid's desk and weaved his way through the student's tables.

I picked up the styler and headed over to Drew, who seemed to be engrossed with a packet of papers.

"Watcha looking at grassy?" I leaned over his shoulder to see what he was looking at so intently. He was looking at blueprints.

Drew continued to analyze them for a few minutes.

"Gigagermo?" I asked in confusion as I saw one of the paper's title.

He narrated, "Blueprints for the Minimero. Now you can control specific Pokemon with a small device." Drew paused. "Why would Mr. Kincaid have something like this in his classroom?"

I shrugged. "Although I have a bad feeling about these blueprints, we should leave them. If Mr. Kincaid finds out that we have these, then we'll be screwed for sure."

Drew nodded in agreement. "Come on, let's drop off all of the stylers.

 **\- Basement -**

"I'm happy this initiation is finally over." I sighed contently as Drew, the Zubat, and I walked downstairs. I stretched and yawned. "I'm ready to hit the bed."

Drew deadpanned, "It's been half an hour, you spent fifteen minutes chasing that Pichu."

I dramatically threw my arms up in the air and complained, "It was MOCKING me!" He smirked.

There was one final obstacle, which Zubat was able to clear. It looked at our direction, gave us a toothy grin, and flew off.

I smiled. "That was one cool Pokemon."

Drew laughed and teased, "Yes it was, especially how it agreed with my opinion of you being crazy." I rolled my eyes.

"Now come on airhead, let's get out of here," Drew said and we made our way through stacks of papers and storage boxes. Finally, we reached the box with the stylers, and I happily plopped the stylers into the box.

I suddenly heard a faint cry in the distance. I perked up. "What was that?"

Drew shrugged in confusion. He looked around, but there was nothing in sight.

"Gastly!" I whisper-exclaimed as four Gastly materialized in front of us. They quickly attacked. I jumped in front of Drew and said, "Capture on!"

The first Gastly was easy to capture, as it wasn't doing much of anything. The second Gastly, however, was a nuisance and tried to attack. I managed to capture it with the third Gastly, who was teleporting around the place.

But after I captured the first three, I realized that the fourth one wasn't there anymore. I turned around and there it was, ready to attack me. Drew quickly pushed me out of the way and we both landed on the floor with an "oomph".

While the Gastly was in shock at the fact that I evaded its attack, I captured it from the ground.

I felt Drew flinch and he wrapped his arms around me and we rolled behind a box. "Someone's coming," he mumbled in my ear.

"Gah, I can't believe I left the blueprints in my room. And what is all this racket outside. Why are all of these papers everywhere? WHAT IS GOING ON?!" I heard Mr. Kincaid yell from the entrance to his lab.

"Isaac, come here! There are intruders!" Mr. Kincaid shrieked and the teacher ran upstairs to his room. "I'm going to make sure that they didn't steal the blueprints!"

I didn't hear Isaac's response as I sharply whispered, "Go," into Drew's ear and we bolted out of the basement.

 **\- The Dorm Hallway -**

"Jeez we barely pulled that one off," Drew panted as we made it up the stairs.

Everyone laughed as we walked up. "What happened?" Leaf inquired.

"Well after being downstairs for one minute, June here manages to get tackled by a Bidoof. Then when we try to go into two other rooms, she tries to do parkour and jumps over tables in order to get the styler, instead of target clearing like a regular SANE person," Drew said accusingly.

"Hey, that Pichu was mocking me!" I protested and then turned to Gary. "Which was all your fault." I glared.

But Drew wasn't finished yet. "Not to mention we almost got caught by Kincaid. Gosh, you probably heard his shrill voice from up here."

Everyone couldn't stop laughing as Drew and I recounted our tale.

Gary grinned. "Well, you guys seemed to have a fun time. And yes, we heard Kincaid's tantrum from up here too."

I smiled. "Well May, Drew seems to not have any complaints, other than your parkour. So I guess we can say this is mission complete!"

Grinning, I fist pumped. Everyone looked at me expectedly.

"Uh, why are you guys all staring?" I asked nervously.

Leaf deadpanned, "Your ranger pose?"

I laughed anxiously. "Right! I knew that." I activated my styler and the blue light emitted. I held it to my right side and spun around, finally thrusting it into the air. "Mission complete!" I happily announced.

Everyone clapped. "Congratulations May! Welcome to the school!" Drew, Gary, Leaf, and all the others cheered.

 **\- Letters From Max -**

Day: XX Month: XX Year: XX

May,

I'm glad everything is going so well! That Isaac kid, I need to meet him. You have a tendency to over exaggerate things, sis. Anyways, your friends all seem cool. So do your teachers. I mean, who doesn't like teachers who pretend that their school is a secret spy organization!

Congratulations on getting second place! Have fun competing against this Drew kid, you guys are probably going to have a lot of fun moments together.

Trainer School is a lot of fun. Although my teachers are more serious than your's (and don't have poofy hair and hairspray obsessions), they really know what they're doing. The students are also really good at battling; it's really competitive here. But I think I'll do alright here. It's already been a lot of fun.

You'd better write back with more of your crazy stories sis!

Your brother,

Max

* * *

 _Whelp, that was that! I hope it was good enough. A quick shout out to a guest reviewer, Han. Thanks for your feedback! Well the catch is, May's friends don't want to be Pokemon Rangers, aside from Drew. This creates a healthy rivalry between the two. I have four main characters that are all going to have to excel at what they do because of the plot. Don't worry, May will be beaten at times, but she is not going to lose that easily. :)_

 _PS Happy Contestshipping Day!_

 _\- Mahrley (aka Not So Artsy Fartsy)_

 _Feedback and reviews are always appreciated :)_


	3. Chapter Three: Outdoor Class!

**Pokemon Ranger May and the Shadows of Almia**

 **Chapter Three: Outdoor Class**

* * *

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon_

 _This story is dedicated to Contestshipper16_

* * *

Day: XX Month: XX Year: XX

Dear Max,

While that's all hilarious, I do not over exaggerate things. And was that sarcasm Max?

Ugh, tell me about it. I guess I'll have to spend a lot of time with some really talented rangers-to-be. Hopefully, I'll be in the top of my class during graduation.

That's good to hear! Knowing you and your know-it-all attitude, you'll be at the top of your class. I'm glad it's a lot of fun too! Who was your starter Pokémon?

Speaking of crazy stories, I had something called "student initiation" a while ago. Oh boy. Basically, the students take four school stylers and hide them around the school, and the newbie (i.e. me) has to go around the school at night to look for them. Luckily I didn't have to go alone, but it was with Drew. He kept on making fun of me because I didn't want to clear the targets. Also, there was this stupid Pichu who refused to give me the freaking styler and it was so annoying... I'd rather not talk about it.

But other than that, today is outdoor class! That means a professional ranger is going to teach us today. I'm super excited. How's everything going with you?

Love,

~ May

 **\- Ms. April's Classroom -**

"What do you mean, Brianna 'likes' me? Doesn't everyone?" Drew whispered to me, Leaf, and Gary.

All of us deadpanned and rolled our eyes. "Drew, you do realize we mean crush like, not friend like," Leaf grumbled to the oblivious chartreuse-haired boy.

Drew gave her a strange look. "No, she's just very nice to me. Which is weird but yeah, just a friend. I don't like her anyways." He shrugged and changed the topic. "So are you guys excited for today?"

Gary sighed at Drew's pretending. Despite Drew's large ego, he hated admitting that girls had crushes on him.

Feeling bad for Drew, I went along with his topic change. "Yep! It's going to be so cool! I hear the head ranger of the Vientown Ranger Base is coming. Isn't his name Barlow or something?"

Leaf shook her head. "Apparently Barlow had to run a last-minute mission, so we're getting another ranger. But I bet that the ranger is still going to be cool!"

"I hope so." Gary reclined on his chair and ran his hand through his brunet spikes.

The door suddenly opened and Ms. April walked in. Gary flinched and quickly sat in his seat properly. Leaf, Drew, and I returned to our seats before Ms. April reached the front of the classroom. By the time she did, the class was silent and orderly.

Ms. April scrutinized the room and then smiled widely. "Good job class! Looks like everyone is here on time and there's nothing going wrong today."

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"So can everyone tell me what day it is today?" she asked us.

All of us hopped out of our seats and excitedly yelled, "Outdoor class!"

Ms. April grinned and then instructed us, "Alright, single file line out of the classroom. We're going Ascension Square to have our lesson. We will be joined by Mr. Kincaid's class and Principal Lamont. I know you all are teenagers, but it still means you have to be on your best behavior."

"Yes Ms. April," we all grumbled and then walked out of the classroom.

 **\- Ascension Square -**

Mr. Kincaid's class joined us a few minutes late due to some "behavioral issues".

Leaf, who was right next to me, snickered. "I bet someone 'stole' his hairspray."

I giggled and looked at the blond adult who was fixing his poofy hair.

A few conversations broke out as the ranger walked into the middle of Ascension Square. Because I was on the outside of the ring of students and also the farthest away from the stairs leading out of Ascension Square, I had to go on my tip-toes to see the ranger.

My eyes widened and I whispered to Leaf, "He has an afro!"

"What? Let me see," Leaf whined and tried to see over the heads of the other students.

I saw the ring of students part as the ranger walked in the middle of us.

"Finally," Leaf grumbled, finally able to see the ranger. She laughed and whispered in agreement.

Principal Lamont followed the ranger and began his announcement. "Hello, students! Let's all give a warm welcome to Crawford! He's a ranger from Vientown and went to this school before. Now the teachers and I will leave you to the infamous question time." He let out a hearty laugh and walked to the side where Ms. April and Mr. Kincaid were.

"Hold it, hold it. Before you guys begin asking questions, let me introduce you to myself," the brunet adult with an afro said. "So as Principal Lamont said, my name is Crawford and I'm a Vientown ranger. I was in Ms. April's class a few years back and my partner Pokémon is Budew."

A tiny green Pokémon hopped out from behind Crawford.

"Aww!" the girls all exclaimed.

A few more Pokémon came out with Budew, a Swellow, a Bellossom, a Cherubi, and a Combee. All five Pokémon buzzed around the inner ring of students.

"These are all of my friend Pokémon!" he proudly exclaimed. "Now you guys can ask questions."

Immediately, everyone's hand shot up, including mine. Crawford laughed and pointed to a girl. "Alright, ask away."

"Did you ever make Ms. April angry?"

"Did I? Every day she would blow up at me!"

Ms. April sighed and corrected him. "We all know that it isn't true. It was more like three times a day."

"Seriously?!" the girl exclaimed in disbelief and everyone began to laugh.

"And I did like you hair better before it became this explosion," Ms. April deadpanned, which caused us to laugh even harder.

After we managed to stifle our laughter to a minimum, another student asked, "Why did you become a ranger?"

Without skipping a beat, he answered, "Because I love Pokemon, but don't want to confine them in Pokeballs. Other than that, it's a cool job!"

The student's face lit up as Crawford said that. "That's exactly how I feel!"

"I have a question, which Pokemon are the most difficult to capture?"

Crawford spent a second in thought before responding, "Personally, I find Psychic and Ghost Pokemon to be very difficult to capture because one minute they're there, but the next POOF!"

The student who asked the question became slightly startled.

"Can I ask a question?" Leaf inquired, hoping that she would get Crawford's attention.

"Oh hey there. Go on an ask away!" Crawford told her.

"What is the most important bond between a ranger and operator?"

"Good question. I would say that trust is very important. A ranger always has to have trust in an operator, and the operator has to believe in the ranger as well," he answered the question.

Leaf nodded with a determined look. I could tell she was ready to always trust the rangers she would work with.

I piped up, "Have you ever made any mistakes?"

Crawford laughed before he accidentally gushed, "Mistakes? Of course! Like when I spilled orange juice all over my styler, which was nasty. Or the other time where I tried to capture a stuffed toy. And the one time when I put my ranger clothes over my pajamas-"

"Wait, why am I telling you this?" he groaned before we erupted in laughter.

Unfortunately, our laughter was interrupted by a beeping noise coming from Crawford's styler.

"Voicemail! Voicemail! Crawford, can you hear me? It's Barlow! There's a hurt Mantine east of the Ranger School. Luana is picking you up with a boat. Join us as soon as you can. We need your help," a voice said from the styler.

Crawford shook his head. "Sorry guys, but I'm afraid I have to cut this lesson short."

Ms. April smiled. "Don't worry about it. Now go save that Mantine!"

"Good luck!" all of us chorused.

"Thanks for coming!" Leaf and I shouted as a boat pulled up on the tiny school dock.

Crawford waved and ran onto the boat before the vessel sped away into the blue ocean.

 **\- School Yard -**

At the end of outdoor class, Leaf, Drew, Gary and I walked back to the main hall together.

Gary stretched. "Well, that was an interesting outdoor class," he yawned.

Leaf rolled her eyes with a smile playing on her lips. "It most certainly was. Now stop yawning it's obnoxious," Leaf chastised the brunet.

He rolled his eyes and smirked. "Only for you, Leafy."

"Shut up."

Drew and I began to walk a bit slowly while Leaf and Gary continued their bantering up ahead. "So, do you think we'll be good rangers like that one day?" I asked, looking into his emerald eyes.

He flicked his hair. "Of course, we will. Well, I will at least, because I'm 'The Drew'." He smirked. I playfully pushed him.

I laughed sarcastically. "Very funny Drew."

His expression softened. "I'm sure you'll be great too. You know what?"

I looked at him expectantly.

"We'll be better than them."

 **\- Letters from Max -**

Day: XX Month: XX Year: XX

May,

Admit it, you do over-exaggerate. And yes, that was sarcasm :)

I'm sure you will be, sis. Even though you are sometimes a bit absent minded, you'll definitely be an awesome ranger!

Oh, my first Pokemon is a Ralts. I'm not sure if you remember, but it's the same Ralts that we met when traveling a while back.

HAHAHA, I can totally imagine you and only you acting crazy like that.

That sounds exciting! you have to tell me how it goes.

Everything is great! I got my grades back and they're all top marks, of course.

Your brother,

\- Max

* * *

 _I LITERALLY HAVE NO EXCUSES FOR NOT UPDATING! I'M SO SORRYYY! I keep on making promises but they just don't seem to be happening. Sorry for this very short and filler chapter... I will update very soon and I will be posting a new story soon! I actually have two in mind so yay creativity! Hopefully, laziness doesn't get in the_ way ;DD

 _I'm an awful authoress :P_

 _\- Mahrley (aka Not so Artsy Fartsy)_

 _Feedback and reviews are always appreciated! :)_


	4. Chapter Four: Voicemail! Voicemail!

**Pokemon Ranger May and the Shadows of Almia**

 **Chapter Four: Voicemail! Voicemail!**

* * *

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon!_

 _This is dedicated to Contestshipper16_

* * *

Day: XX Month: XX Year: XX

Dear Max,

Oh please. If I "tend to over-exaggerate" then you're not a smart ass. And believe me, you are,

Well, I guess that's the closest thing to a compliment that I'll ever get from you so thanks!

That Ralts! I remember. Traveling was a whole lotta fun.

It was awesome! The ranger went off and rescued a Mantine, so it was a bit short. But whatever.

Pshh of course they are. The "smart" in "smart ass" means something, you know?

Love,

~May

 **\- The Classroom -**

"I'm pleased to inform all of you that Crawford's mission was a complete success and that the Mantine is safe and sound!" Ms. April exclaimed happily as she walked into the previously noisy classroom.

A cheer rang throughout the room.

Ms. April paused and sat on her desk. "I'm also happy to say that today is the day that we get to use actual stylers. These came in straight from Vientown! And as for the two students who are going to do a live demonstration for us, well one has dreams of being and operator and the other has dreams of being a ranger."

Whispers began to break out into the room.

Leaf turned to me worriedly and gushed, "I really really hope that I'm the operator for this! It's going to be a great experience to actually communicate with a quote end quote 'ranger'!"

I smiled. "Don't worry Leaf. Even if you don't get picked you'll still be an awesome operator!"

Gary frowned at me and complained, "But what about me? Where's my 'Gary you're going to be an absolutely AMAZING AND HOT scientist,'?"

Leaf and I looked at each other and began to laugh. Wiping invisible tears from my eyes, I clutched my stomach and said, "Sure, whatever you think Gary."

Suddenly, a confused look overtook Leaf's laughter. "Wait, where's Drew?" she asked, eyeing the empty seat next to me.

I shrugged and glanced at Gary. "Did you see him this morning? You guys weren't at breakfast," I recalled with a frown.

"Oh yeah. The guys and I woke up pretty late today. Our alarms didn't go off for some reason, so we skipped breakfast. I was sure that Drew was right behind me before we ran towards class," Gary responded.

I opened my mouth to say something, but my sentence was cut short by Ms. April.

"Enough with your speculations," she told us with a playful expression. "The class operator is going to be Leaf and the ranger is going to be Drew," Ms. April announced and put a styler on Leaf's desk.

As she walked to Drew's desk, she realized that there was no one there.

"Now where is Drew? It's not like him to be late." She wore a frown on her face. "Well, I'm afraid that I have to mark him as absent and give away his spot for the styler."

Ms. April turned towards the class. After pondering for a moment, she announced, "Alright. Gary will take Drew's place as the ranger."

Words of protest quickly came out of the students.

"But he doesn't even want to be a ranger!"

"It's not fair! We study too!"

"Yeah! It's not useful for him!"

Ms. April looked upon her students with a disappointed look. "I expected all of you to be a bit more mature," she rebuked them. "However if you must know, Gary was selected due to his extensive knowledge of the styler. In addition to this, he and Leaf seem to communicate very well with each other.

"And as seen through the rather childish responses throughout the classroom, I have picked correctly," she continued to chide them.

Ms. April walked over to Gary and placed the styler on his desk.

She sighed and then put on a weary smile. "From now on, I expect you to be more respectful of my decisions and your classmates. And let's see how the voicemail feature works."

"Sorry Ms. April," the classroom echoed.

Ms. April went to the chalkboard and began to write.

"As you all know, one of the many important features of Pokemon Rangers' stylers is voicemail. This allows rangers to communicate with each other and lets the operator speak with the ranger who is on the field," she lectured.

"Gary, Leaf," she said as she nodded towards them, "you can now activate your stylers. Gary, I need you to head out of the classroom so we can be sure that your voice is coming from the styler."

Gary took his school styler out of his belt and replaced it actual styler before walking out of the classroom with a mock salute.

A few minutes after the door shut behind the brunet's back, Leaf activated her styler. "Voicemail! Voicemail! Gary, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear!" Gary's voice came through the styler Leaf was using.

She grinned. "Alright, where are you located right now?"

"I'm right in front of the staircase that leads to Mr. Kincaid's lab," he answered.

With a content expression on her face, Ms. April instructed Leaf to call Gary back into the classroom.

"Ms. April wants you back in the classroom pronto," Leaf relayed Ms. April's instructions to him.

"Sure thing I'm heading back right now," Gary said.

Ms. April happily turned around towards the class, until a certain blond adult stormed into the classroom.

She gave him an odd look and asked, "What exactly _is_ this all about Mr. Kincaid?"

"Someone has stolen our school stylers!" he yelled, absolutely fuming, and glowered around the room.

Ms. April opened her mouth to say something but Mr. Kincaid interrupted her. "AND I SEE THAT DREW AND GARY ARE NOT PRESENT IN CLASS TODAY. THEY MUST BE THE STYLER THIEVES!" he bellowed.

Ms. April pursed her lips and tightly said, "That is only partially true. Drew is not in class today, but I don't take him to be a boy who steals Stylers, especially because he aspires to be a ranger himself. Also, Gary is present, he is just outside your laboratory on my instructions. Today was our voicemail test."

Mr. Kincaid scowled. "Fine, Gary must not be the thief. However, the same cannot be said for Drew."

Leaf and I knitted our eyebrows as he continued.

"I always see that troublesome boy lurking around my labs. Perhaps he was looking at my research, or he was looking at how to steal the stylers. Whatever the original purpose was, he decided to strike and did steal the stylers," Mr. Kincaid sneered.

I quickly stood up. "Mr. Kincaid! Drew would never do that! Operators and rangers alike must trust each other and we must trust Drew! For all we know he could be confronting the thief right now," I said, trying to defend my friend.

The teacher glared daggers at me. "Hmph. This still needs to be reported to Principal Lamont."

Ms. April gave my a sympathetic look and nodded. "I'm sorry May but it does seem that Drew is a possible culprit."

I gasped. "But you can't-"

"Save it for later, young girl." Mr. Kincaid scowled.

"We're going to see Principal Lamont now," Ms. April announced as the two teachers left the classroom.

"Voicemail! Voicemail! It's Gary and there seems to be styler on the ground right outside of the school doors. I think I see-" Gary's voice was interrupted by some loud yelling.

"Give it back!" a familiar voice yelled.

"No, they're mine now!"

"Wait that's!" the class heard Gary yell before the voicemail ended.

Leaf and I looked at each other. "That's Drew," I said with a dark tone. She nodded. "They're in trouble," I said slowly. She nodded again.

That was all I needed before I bolted out of the classroom with Gary's school styler.

 **\- The Courtyard -**

"Drew! Gary!" I yelled as I ran through the automatic glass doors of the school. One ranger styler and one broken school styler laid on a patch of grass a little bit farther down the courtyard.

I heard a yell and a crash come from around the school gates.

Quickly, I sprinted towards the direction of the crash.

As I descended a flight of stairs, I saw quite a number of things. A broken wooden crate that was once filled with school stylers, two boys rolling on the ground, wrestling with a man in a lab coat underneath a tree, and a family of Slakoth lounging on that same tree.

Drew looked up and saw me. "May! Come help us!" he yelled and then returned to his previous efforts of trying to subdue the man in the lab coat.

Gary gritted his teeth and tried to wrap his arms around the man's waist.

The man jumped backward to avoid Gary's 'hug'. Unfortunately, he jumped and slammed into the trunk of the tree.

I only had enough time to yell, "Gary! Drew! Above you!" before four Slakoth fell down onto the boys' and man's heads, angry at their disturbance.

Sprinting towards the scene, I shouted, "Gary!" and threw his school styler into his direction.

He nodded and then activated his styler.

"Capture on!" we both yelled and proceeded to capture the family of Slakoth, who were angry at the man in the lab coat for disturbing their lovely nap.

After a few minutes of subduing the Slakoth, the capture was finally complete as Gary, Drew, and I peeled the last Slakoth off of the man and placed it in the tree.

"Slakoth," it said contently and climbed up with its family to continue their nap.

As soon as we turned back to the man, he was over at the pile of school stylers, trying to grab some and hide them in his shirt.

All three of us closed in on him and frowned.

"Wait until Ms. April hears about this," Drew said, running his fingers through his now tousled hair.

"Oh but I already saw the whole scene," we heard our female teacher said as she came down the stairs with Mr. Kincaid.

Gary cringed. "Oh boy," he muttered underneath his breath.

"You three," she said as she pointed to us, "head back to school with Mr. Kincaid and wait for Principal Lamont and myself to have a discussion with you."

We all nodded and began to head up the stairs with the angry blond teacher.

"And as for you," Ms. April said and frowned at the man in the lab coat.

Mr. Kincaid paused and looked at Ms. April confronting the man.

He seemed as if he was in his late thirties and looked frightened. Very frightened. "Miss teacher lady…" he stammered.

She looked upon him with disappointment. "Care to explain why you came to the Ranger School to steal stylers that are necessary to teach children how to become Pokemon Rangers?" she asked.

The man looked at her with shame. "I'm sorry I just… I just thought that because you guys were a Ranger School you would have some stylers to spare…" he tried to explain.

Ms. April's frown deepened and she didn't seem impressed. "And how exactly is that justifiable?" she asked and raised an eyebrow.

"I… it's… it's not…" the man stammered out of complete shame.

Suddenly, he began to cry.

Out of shock, I heard Gary gasp and exclaim, "Why are you crying?!"

"Because..." He hiccuped and then said,"Because there is no good reason for what I did. I stole from a Ranger school and could have deprived a child of their dreams of becoming a ranger.

"I've always wanted to be a ranger because they are so good, selfless and brave. So I tried to teach myself by taking the stylers. But I could never be a ranger, I'm not good enough. So I chose to work as a scientist instead, hoping that my dream of becoming a ranger would fade away. But they never did, so I tried to steal the stylers.

"I know I was wrong. You should just arrest me now," he finished and slumped, looking at the ground in shame.

To my surprise, Ms. April began to smile. "You understand what you did wrong, and that was the important thing. But never give up on your dreams. You could attend Ranger School too! You can still accomplish your dreams. Next time, think about your actions more and consider the possibilities." She reached into her pocket, pulled out a pamphlet, and handed it to him.

The man's eyes widened. "Miss, Ms. Teacher Lady. You are too kind. Why don't you lock me up?" he asked with a sad voice.

"Because you have realized your actions." She then gestured to the pamphlet she previously handed to him. "You should really consider that as well."

He looked up and smiled gratefully. "I won't let you down. Thank you, Ms. Teacher Lady," he said with a new look of determination in his eyes.

"Good," Ms. April said. She nodded and added, "Now go home and reconsider how you're going to follow your dreams."

The man beamed and walked off of the school grounds.

Mr. Kincaid sneered at the exchange and pulled Gary's arm. "Let's go," he said roughly and pulled us all away from Ms. April, who was gathering the school stylers.

 **\- Principal Lamont's Office -**

"And so that's how we discovered the man and captured the Slakoth before Ms. April and Mr. Kincaid came outside," Gary finished reciting his story for the second time.

Mr. Kincaid sniffed. "Well, I understand that Drew had nothing to do with the missing stylers, other than attempting to recover them. I will be taking my leave now," he dismissed himself and stalked out of the room.

Principal Lamont smiled kindly at us. "That was a very brave thing to do Drew. Well done on communicating everyone and also for believing in each other. That is exactly what we were trying to teach you at this school. It seems as if you understand it very well," he congratulated us.

We all smiled and chorused, "Thank you, Principal Lamont!"

His expression stiffened a little as he then warned, "But do not ever pull off a stunt like that again. It was a very brave and a rash thing to do and I cannot imagine what would have happened if the thief had gotten away. Gary, Drew, May, you would all have been blamed for the theft. If this were to ever happen again, I would request you to first notify an adult of authority."

We quickly nodded. "Yes, Principal Lamont."

"Alright then, have a good day," he said and dismissed us.

 **\- The Dorm Hallway -**

"Holy crap Drew what the HELL were you thinking?!" Gary yelled as we left the earshot of the teachers' offices.

Drew rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. As if I haven't been scolded enough already by April and Lamont and not to even mention Kincaid," he sighed and shrugged Gary's comment off.

"It's not funny!" Gary shouted again.

Drew turned around and faced Gary. "Fine it wasn't necessarily the smartest thing to do, but we DID stop the thief which was the important thing, right?" he asked rhetorically.

Leaf stalked over to Gary and pulled his ear. "And besides, Mr. Oak, what were you thinking when you dropped your styler and just ran off without even notifying me?" she growled into his ear.

The brunet winced. "I, um, I uhh…" he stuttered, at a complete loss of words.

I laughed. "Come on guys, everyone needs to calm down. Drew's right, what's important is that we DID save the day and didn't get expelled!" I exclaimed cheerily and flung my arms around Drew and Leaf, who both cringed.

"At least airhead and I can agree on one thing," he muttered teasingly.

I rolled my eyes and ignored him.

Leaf giggled and let go of Gary's ear. "I guess you two _are_ right. But like Principal Lamont said, I don't you dare do that again," she warned dangerously.

"Leaf I'm sure that Gary's more afraid of what you'll do to him than the actual danger of pursuing a criminal," I bantered.

Gary nodded. "You got that right."

Drew snorted. "At the end of the day, you have to admit. We were pretty badass. Even though the dickwad broke my styler," Drew grumbled.

Gary, Leaf, and I burst out laughing.

 **\- Letters to Max -**

Dear May,

No problem sis.

Yep! He even helps me clean my room! It's pretty awesome.

Oh, well, at least, there was some 'action' involved. A gym leader came and visited my school, which was really awesome because he did an exhibition match with my teacher and absolutely KICKED BUTT!

Knew it.

Hope you had an awesome week, or however long it took you to receive this letter (and to put your laziness aside and actually respond to me).

Your brother,

\- Max

* * *

 _Hi! For any readers out there, I'm super duper sorry for not updating in FOREVER! I have the rest of this story planned out, but life has been extremely annoying and I haven't had the opportunity to write. I will try to update more frequently!_

 _\- Mahrley (aka Not So Artsy Fartsy)_

 _Feedback and reviews are always appreciated! :)_


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